SPARTANBURG, S.C. -- Belmont Abbey pounded out 21 hits and scored 28 runs Wednesday to sweep a Conference Carolinas softball doubleheader at Converse, winning both games in five innings.

The Crusaders (20-9, 7-5) used a nine-run fourth inning to take game one 12-1 and a nine-run second to earn a 16-3 victory in game two.

THE OPENER

• Cameron Cooper went 3-for-3 with three runs scored.
• Mackenzie Sprinkle tallied two hits while five other players also reached base safely as part of a 10-hit attack.
• The Crusaders jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the second when Cooper came home on a passed ball and Emily Morgan delivered a run scoring single to plate Emma Frye.
• Sprinkle, Hallie Mele and Bailey Presley each drove in two during the decisive fourth.
• Abby Craver threw a complete-game two-hitter to improve to 9-5. She walked two and struck out two with the lone Valkyries run unearned.

THE NIGHTCAP

• Payton Whitley was 3-for-3 with three runs scored and four RBIs.
• Cooper added two hits and two runs batted in. She also scored three times.
• Eight of the nine starters tallied hits.
• Alannah Browne improved to 8-3 with the complete-game effort. She stuck out seven against two walks and seven hits allowed.

UP NEXT

• Belmont Abbey faces a key Conference Carolinas weekend.
• The Crusaders host Lees-McRae on Friday and King on Saturday.